Seasoned newsman returns to WOAI-TV

You can go home again. . .as countless local TV news personalities have discovered over the years.

The latest to return to the San Antonio television fold after a lengthy absence is engaging reporter Randy Escamilla.

The news vet left his longtime home of WOAI-TV more than seven years ago to pursue a new career in public relations.

He also got amazingly trim and fit, via determined workouts and training in the gym (see pic below).

Starting today, he’s back at News 4 as general assignment reporter, joining the ranks of so many returning media folk who also had left their stations to spread their wings elsewhere.

Most recently, those have included anchorwoman Cynthia Lee (KABB) and morning show host Kimberly Crawford (KABB). But lots of others in previous decades also made S.A. comebacks from other cities, including KENS’ own Deborah Knapp and WOAI’s Randy Beamer.

Escamilla, however, makes it clear he’s still got his eye on that other career prize. “The station is aware that in May, I earned my Master of Professional Studies degree in Strategic Public Relations from George Washington University in Washington, D.C.,” Randy wrote me in a message. “As a result, I remain on the market for a full-time public relations position.”

Since leaving WOAI, he’s racked up a variety of successes: “As a public relations practitioner, I’ve been fortunate to travel to Africa, Peru and Mexico with the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word; worked with the San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce; and most recently, led the $1 million media campaign for the City of San Antonio’s anti-obesity initiative that launched Siclovia.”

Meantime, you can bet WOAI – and loads of viewers — will give a warm welcome back to this seasoned and well-respected reporter, who reminded me of some past TV highlights.

“I was among the first reporters at the Branch Davidian Siege in Waco in 1993; reported on the visits of Pope John Paul II to Mexico City,” he said, adding that he also reported on the 2000 Presidential Election between George W. Bush and Vice President Al Gore and was “the first TV news reporter to interview then 21-year old twins Julian and Joaquin Castro about their political ambitions.”